Ottawa captain 'sore' after early exit Monday, but injury not serious

Senators fans concerned about Daniel Alfredsson's status for Thursday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes can breathe a little easier. The captain will be in the lineup as Ottawa looks for its first win of the 2010-11 season.

"I just felt a little soreness in one of my muscles," Alfredsson, who was given a community building award by United Way Wednesday, said of his early departure from Monday's 3-2 overtime loss in Washington. "It was just precautionary. Nothing serious at all. I should be ready tomorrow."

After losing to Buffalo, getting smoked by Toronto and coming up short versus the Capitals, the Senators are off to their worst start in 15 years.

Coach Cory Clouston says that while the effort level wasn't what it should be in the first two games, he was more encouraged by the team's play against the Capitals.

The Senators spent 25 minutes of Wednesday's practice working on the power play, which has not scored on 14 chances to date.

"It's still a work in progress," he said. "It's tough to have a good power play when your game is not going very well. I thought last game we had a lot of opportunities, (but) we didn't pull the trigger. I thought the two games prior, our power play mirrored how we played 5-on-5. We didn't execute, we didn't play the way we needed."

Clouston also said that backup goalie Brian Elliott will make his first start in of the next two games - either Thursday at home against Carolina or Saturday in Montreal - but would not say which.